![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
June-July 2024 Test Drive Meme
June-July 2024 TDM
Introduction
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.
All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels โCurrent Character.โ
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.
๐ฆ New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.
and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.
๐ฆ Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.
Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.
Content Warnings: Ghosts, Potential Violence, Potential Death
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.Do not pass go. Instead they will haunt the ghost town for one week in the room where they were killed. Other Star Children may recognize them and work to snap them out of their routines. Yet nothing will free the Star Children's spirits before the week is through. At the end of the week, they'll come to, alive, in their bodies in the room they died in. Best get through and out of the ghost town before dying again!
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
- Whispers, echoes of screams, etc become common throughout Cruel Summer
- Huts become bigger, interconnected, growing together. Anyone lost, overheated, in need of something in Cruel Summer gets a friendly spirit redirecting them to these buildings
- Buildings will still be in some state of disrepair, but like a whole twisting winding town
- Insides are a cool respite
supernatural ghost spirit air conditioning - Only way out is through, no turning back, as the exits disappear behind you
- Many are friendly, but some are not. One can attempt to talk to them, but how interactive they are varies
- Occasionally other creatures from Cruel Summer may burst in and attack
- If a Star Child dies, rather than return to life immediately, they stay a ghost for about a week, part of the tour
Content Warnings: Fire, Coerced Confessions
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesnโt hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesnโt know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesnโt know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfireโs attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. Thereโs no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children havenโt previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessionshelp Folkmore grow as well. Gardens bloom in beautiful displays. Crops grow healthy and joyful. Itโs even possible to hear humming from some of the vegetables and fruits. The land grows with the Star Children. Anyone who lacks a green thumb can work their way around that with confessions! Save that dying plant and grow those tomatoes.
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of oneโs hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesnโt hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesnโt know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesnโt know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfireโs attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. Thereโs no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children havenโt previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessions
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of oneโs hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
- Last two weeks of June, wildfire burns across Folkmore. After that, they are rare.
- Confessions can protect or rescue buildings, land areas, and spirits.
- Come July, embers spark across Folkmore like fireflies. They provide insight for Star Children. Talking helps.
- Confessions help the land grow.
- Confessions reveal a jeweled box containing an item from home.
no subject
What, did you expect my soul was gonna go straight to burnin' in hell? Well, I've got news for you. I passed the damned judgment. I got those scales to balance and made it all the way to the Field of Reeds, and then I turned my back on it all.
[And if that sounds like a bluff, the fire will support Marc's words, since it is technically another confession. Within those flames is an image of Marc standing by Taweret's side in the middle of a seemingly endless field of beautiful golden, swaying reeds. He's still holding his heart in his hand, pressed up against his chest. But as he speaks inaudible words to Taweret and whirls around on the spot, the weeds once again turn to the endless sand of the Duat instead.
With that admission, the last of the fires go out.]
An eternity of blissful peace? Forget it, 'cause I had to go back for Steven and to teach you a lesson. And the gods gave us their blessing. That prick Osiris opened the gate back to the land of the livin' for us 'cause even he figured out you were bad news.
no subject
Unbelievable. [ Arthur mostly says to himself before addressing Marc. ] You know what? I'm starting to think you're the better--
[ Nope. No. He's not that desperate yet, not even if it put out every fire on earth. ]
Nevermind. You're a real asshole. I'm sure you embellish everything, if you can even bother to know anything about the Ennead. That's more of Steven's specialty, isn't it?
no subject
So what? So what if Steven's hit the books about it? I don't need to learn or embellish shit when I get dragged into all that against my will. And it's the same here. [He gestures roughly at their surroundings with one hand.] I know about this place because I've been here for over a year already. And I know that probably sounds insane to you, and you'll be thinkin' that we just saw each other the other day, but you'd better abandon everything you think you know. That's not how it works here.
no subject
Bad enemies to have, even worse if they hear Marc mouthing off. ]
I'd rather never see you again in my life.
[ Assuming he is, in fact, still alive to begin with. ]
I believe we can exist here without any trouble. You're volatile, but I can assume you want the same thing?
no subject
[Sparing Harrow's life- withstanding Khonshu's pressure to follow orders and execute wrongdoers- had been tough on Marc, but he'd walked away from all that with his head held high. He was out of that line of duty, and he would've happily gone the rest of his life not knowing what'd happened to Harrow after that. Seeing him again now in a place where everything's so different... He can't imagine any good coming from it, for either side.]
Let's put it this way. You don't start any shit, and I won't start any shit. But if I catch you goin' around executing people for crimes they haven't even committed, I'm not gonna give you another second chance. I will stick a knife in your throat.
[Which wouldn't accomplish anything in the long run, since nobody stays dead for more than a night or so, but he's not about to clue Harrow in on that.]
no subject
There's no smart response, no threat thrown back in return. Instead Arthur stares at Marc like he's got three actual heads: openly fearful. ]
no subject
Seeing that sort of expression on Harrow's face? That's new. Out of place. Harrow's always acted like he was above Marc. Had given off an air that anything Marc said or did was meaningless. A joke, if anything. Why is it different now?]
... What? Is that really so surprisin'?
no subject
At least not yet. ]
I'm sorry.
[ He's not though. For a second he forgets who he's speaking to-- it's not someone he has to beg for his life. ]
I... lost my train of thought.
[ It's whiplash really, something heh as to physically shake off before his composure seems to come back. He brushes some hair from his face before looking away, disinterested. ]
Are we done here?
no subject
Like you've got anywhere else to be. But yeah, sure. We're done.
[He'd storm off, but he doesn't want to turn his back to Harrow, so he'll wait for the other man to leave. His arms cross over his chest as he waits.]
battle of the century
When Marc crosses his arms over his chest and seems ready to wait things out Arthur frowns and chooses to lean against the brick of some extinguished building, hands clasped in front of his lower abdomen in some mirrored gesture of stubbornness. ]
So leave. I have better things to do than follow you.
[ It's been years that he's restrained himself from demonstrations of petty rage, Frankly? He's never had the urge to flip someone the bird more at the moment. But he won't. Fuck this guy. ]
Moon Knight: Civil War
If you've got better things to do, then go. Tend to 'em. I'm comfortable right here.
Best CR I've ever had
Fine! Fine. Fine.
[ He walks his way over towards the nearest wall using it as support until he can find a makeshift cane. Like hell is he going to try and scrounge one up in front of someone who just threatened to put a knife in him. Time is better spent regrouping himself anyway. ]
...Just so you know, I apologized when I killed you, you know.
[ For Arthur, divulging this is not really about the act of apologizing so much as Arthur reiterating that he's washing his hands of Marc. Being upset over being murdered feels unjustified when they're technically even now.
The flames nearby show Marc's dead body lying in a pool while Arthur stands over and sets the golden scarab on the other man's chest.
I'm sorry it had to be this way, Marc Spector. Steven Grant. Whoever else might be in there. Sometimes we need the cold light of death before we can see reality.
The flames die down. Arthur has found part of a demolished doorframe that, for now, he can use to get himself along. He gives Marc a dismissive wave before turning his back on the other man. This one doesn't have the cunning of Jake Lockley nor Khonshu to help him. ]
I'm sure we'll meet again unfortunately.
no subject
... Well. Not hasty. It's only now, watching Harrow lean against the wall like that, that Marc even realizes that cane wasn't there for show. That really sours the moment. So does the comment that Harrow slings out there, totally unwanted and unprompted. Marc's smirk was short-lived, he's right back to glaring. And once again, he needs to get the last word in.]
What the fuck did you expect me to do with that little tidbit?! Get outta here and take your hollow sentiment with you!
Moon Knight: Endgame
Of all the people to be saddled with here, why this one? Two?
If the last word is going to be had Arthur is going to not only claim it but rid Marc of the satisfaction of even being heard. As he starts to round the corner he gives a last look back of indignation. ]
I can't even hear you from over here.
[ He definitely can. The fires around are doused, but Marc doesn't need to know that. Instead he slinks his way along, out of Marc's sight and hopefully out of his mind.
He leaves with one last sentiment, yelled out with no reservation in volume. ]
Moron!
cw: ableism
If I can hear you, you can hear me, asshole! Unless your ears work about as well as your legs!
[It's a low blow, he knows it is, but he doesn't give a shit. He's done so much worse over the course of his life. Harrow's lucky to be leaving this confrontation without a scratch on him. And it's not like Harrow's not an ableist piece of shit himself. They're both damaged, just in different ways.
He doesn't expect Harrow to reply at this point, let alone come back around the corner, but he waits a little longer just in case. It gives him some time to get his breathing back to normal, either way.]